


The Dawning

by proxydreamer



Series: The Age of Reclamation [1]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy, Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 15:13:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16161479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proxydreamer/pseuds/proxydreamer
Summary: Lia'Jaa arrives at Kaddi, with a sense of mystery in her heart.





	1. Along Stronds of Light and Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lia'Jaa arrives at Kaddi, with a sense of mystery in her heart.

### The Eden Depression

Hawwah Peninsula, Kaddi

Tikkun system, Perseus Veil

Galactic Standard| 8th Month/28th Day/1908 

Rannochai Calendar| Tikkun’s Peak/12th Day/2485 

 

**LIA**

The _Ezrah_ was hovering above the peninsula after it dropped me off. A moment later, when security checks were over and done with, it left, becoming a hazy dot in the vermillion sky of Kaddi.

Due to the delicate and sensitive nature of the recent discovery, the whole region was cordoned by the Conclave and was now swarming with military personnel and geth troopers desperate to keep the whole situation under wraps.

So far, the government’s hush-hush operation succeeded which was astonishing considering that, at best, they were just a bunch of small-minded, old fools bickering over proposals on how to get a Council seat. Something that’ll never happen, I should empathically add. Look at the volus! They’d created a whole new economy on scratch and what did they get for it? Nothing.

Nothing but free induction ports for their worries.

While out looking for possible palladium deposits, the mining company Blue Mountain discovered a peculiar cavity deep within a rocky elevation and upon further digging, uncovered what seemed to be the entrance to some ancient underground facility that had, with crude instruments, been dated to be roughly some hundred-thousand years old, making it potentially older than the earliest prothean artifacts documented by the asari.

As I began my walk to the camp, a sense of mystery made its way in my bones. Something was to be discovered here, and that something would be monumental for the people.

Before gaining entry to the campsite, I was subjected to multiple screenings, machine and physical, and more thorough scans from several geth platforms stationed at the entrance. The camp was set near the mountain where the facility was and with the help of my omni-tool I quickly found my way to the central tent, where my colleagues were presenting conjectures regarding the nature of the site. By the time I arrived it seemed that the discussion had just begun. There were eight people surrounding a table.

“Are you sure this place is not prothean?” a man in a blue suit asked when I entered, his head turned to an archaeologist I recognized who was wearing a tattered fabric over a grey suit—he was Professor Yahna, the chief archaeologist of this expedition.

Professor Yahna nodded. “I am quite sure. If this place were indeed Prothean, then what we know of them would be upended”–he snapped his fingers for emphasis–“just like that, and the hanar will be out for our blood! I am confident that this site is neither prothean nor inusannon. They are too old and lack the neural interfaces that are commonly found in prothean sites. Also, the architecture is vastly different.”

“If they aren’t—”

“What are they then?” I asked. Every head turned to me, and I fought off a blush though I was aware that my visor was tinted enough not to reveal my face. Taking a step back, I hurriedly gave a bow to everyone in attendance as a form of apology.

When I turned to him, Professor Yahna waved a hand dismissively. “Do not worry, my dear…” He took back the attention of the crowd. “It is always good to be eager and curious. Now, as for your question, it is, to my expert opinion, if I am entitled to one, the facility is—the facility is quarian.”

There was silence, and a moment to regain our bearings, then, “What?” It was unknown who spoke.

Chuckling, the head archaeologist shook his head. “A similar reaction, but yes.” He entered a command on his omni-tool and a geth platform arrived. It was dented in some places and was rusting a bit around the joints. “42, please show them the images we took at the dig site.”

42’s photoreceptor blinked blue and a series of holograms appeared. There were five images: three of the facility’s entrance taken from various angles; one of an etched symbol on the doors that was reminiscent of the Holy Sepulcher’s crest; and the other a series of close-ups of the entrance’s frame that was engraved with lines of writings.

Professor Yahna beckoned for us to come closer and gestured towards the visuals from the geth.

“Simply preposterous, but let us see,” someone said.

From beneath my headpiece, my eyes grew wide. Aside from archaeology, I also studied Ancient Quarian Languages back in my days as a student in the University of Iktomi. So, it was with my understanding that the writings that were in the images, the ones inscribed on the entrance of the facility was Old Dranii, the earliest discovered language that the quarian people had.

But that couldn’t be right, “This can’t be true…”

All eyes were on me again. And again, clearing his throat loudly, Professor Yahna shifted attention back to himself. He gave me a nod. “Care to tell us what cannot be true, miss?”

I gulped. I was not good with sudden expectations, especially from someone as keen as the professor. “Uh, the lines of writing on the fifth image are…” I circled a finger over the visual. “If I am correct in my assumptions, then these are characters from Old Dranii. I cannot construct a proper sentence because what we know of the language is scarce and fragmented, but roughly it says: ‘The self—I—flows a-across the river of tears—no—stars, along stronds of light and, particles? No, dust. Then, I am whence home is’.” I brought my head back up and found Professor Yahna staring at me.

Flummoxed, I tried reciting what I had just translated:

“ _I flow across the river of stars, along stronds of light and dust, then I am whence home is._

“That is what the writings say… roughly—If it is Old Dranii though. I cannot possibly think that it is; because if it is, then… what do we really know of our species? It’s too absurd. It is more believable to say that these ideographs coincidentally matched Old Dranii—parallel development, maybe.”

“You are Miss Lia’Jaa vas Narra, yes?” Professor Yahna asked, with a hint of amusement oozing out his mouthplate.

I shook my head. “Yes.”

“It is indeed absurd.” I could feel his grin under his visor. “But it is the most concrete evidence we have of determining its origins, or…

“…must we inform the Citadel that we’ve uncovered a prothean facility hidden beneath Kaddi when there is stark evidence that it is?”

At his words, we collectively swallowed our breaths.

It was true: According to Citadel Convention, any artifact, beacon and/or ruin that was of prothean origin had to be reported to the Council and all objects therein would become Citadel property.

As members of the Citadel, we could stand to benefit from the agreement also—in theory. The Council seldom remembered that there were others outside of their own species.

A very heated discussion erupted among everyone present, with an even split.

One side was with Professor Yahna and wanted no Council interference in anything while the other wanted to do the opposite, afraid of the repercussions once everything was revealed.

Of course, I was excluded; I only wanted to know what was inside the facility and learn from it.

It was midnight when they decided, unanimously but with hushed grumbling, that before anything was to happen they still needed to investigate the interior; then, and only then, would they agree on what best course of action to take.

Little did we know that the things we uncovered were to change our whole lives and our whole understanding of the galaxy.


	2. An Old Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Endi regales Lia with a story, to let her know some things and to impress her.

### The Eden Depression

Hawwah Peninsula, Kaddi

Tikkun system, Perseus Veil

Galactic Standard| 8th Month/28th Day/1908 

Rannochai Calendar| Tikkun’s Peak/12th Day/2485 

#### Endi

Night came and the camp grew quiet. No doubt from the implications that my words stirred in their old, fat heads. There were no moons around Kaddi, and the silhouettes of orbiting space stations aglow with kinetic barriers made poor substitutes among the twinkling stars. Sometimes I wish to go back to Rannoch immediately. But I know there were things to be done, things to uncover.

I saw the newcomer Lia sitting on an outcrop near the tents. Most everyone was asleep, except for the soldiers that continued to probe around the surroundings, looking for other sites and artifacts together with excavating machines and specialized geth platforms. 42 was behind me, following quietly.

“I detect Lia-Creator,” it spoke.

I resisted rolling my eyes, knowing the act would bare another result entirely. “I can see, 42.”

“This unit did not presume otherwise.”

Shaking my head, I thought that maybe 42 was the first geth platform to have developed sarcasm because it sure wasn’t by the Ancestors or my hand that it sounded like it had some.

I looked back to Lia on the horizon, her silhouette becoming quite clear on my mind. I stealthily walked up to her, but not before signaling 42 to stay at a distance. She was fiddling with her omni-tool and it was showing an article that was released just a few hours before her arrival. It had been about the commotion of someone stumbling upon what could have been a primitive omni-tool cognate covered in some crystalline sheen, but was found to have actually been more advanced than contemporary models, at least in its distribution of energy.

“What did that imply?” she asked out loud.

And I couldn’t resist. “I wonder what indeed.” I said suddenly, making her yelp in surprise.

She turned to me and I know she glared. It was amusing.

“Mind if I sit with you?” I asked though before she could answer I’d already squatted down beside her.

She didn’t mind it seemed and followed me stare up at the stars, and it was a comfortable silence.

“Have you ever read of our ancient stories?” I asked.

“Of course.” She nodded, easing herself into an idler position. “No self-respecting quarian would declare themselves an archaeologist without knowledge of ancient literature!”

“A wonderful sentiment…” I breathed, mouthplate beeping. Then, “There is a legend from the Kurai peoples of the Rayya Mountains about the origin of our race. Have you heard of it?”

No answer. She must be thinking about it. Had she ever been to the Rayya Mountains? Maybe I could take her some time

“No.” There was embarrassment in her posture now, straightening her legs as if waiting a reprimand.

I shook my head in understanding. It was an obscure tale, and I had only read it because of my visit to the Kurai. “It says that we came from the stars, on ships made of light. That before of all that we laid claim to an interstellar empire vaster than anything the Council could ever hold… We were once rulers of this galaxy.”

“Does it say what happened to this empire?” She asked, and there was eagerness in her voice.

I was dazed for a moment. “What?”

“The legend,” she said. “Does it say anything about what happened to the empire?”

“Oh.” A chuckle of lights erupted from my mouthplate as I recalled the information.

“At the height of this empire, came the Ruinous Power. It disguised itself a benevolent entity and brought gifts, fulfillments of desire then visited the three most powerful individuals of the empire: The High Priest, who we know in other legends as Ve; The Lord-Speaker, which should be Lord Jae from the _Dyonis’Aka_ ; and The Master Biotic, who in his arrogance named himself Arch because he believed himself greater than the sum of everyone else.

“The High Priest Ve saw through the Ruinous Power’s ruse and warned the others and his people but more than half of the empire had already knelt and accepted its vile gifts. Seeing no other course, The High Priest Ve gathered those he could and fled the empire, with the help of artificial intelligences that were his own creations—”

“Wait!” Lia spoke up, interrupting my tale. “You mean to say that there are mentions of artificial intelligences in the Kurai legend?”

“Not specifically, but they speak of _Na’aru_ , machine spirits.”

“They do sound like mentions of an artificial intelligence.”

“That they do.”

“What happened then?” She acted like a little girl listening to a story by the fireside. “When Ve led his people away?”

I took in a slow and deliberate breath. “They were chased, hounded to the ends of the empire’s vast claims, and while Ve and his people fled and were chased, the Ruinous Power consumed the empire from within, twisting and turning those that accepted his power into perverted, infernal versions of themselves; they became _Manar_ , demons. What comes after, I do not know because that is where the story ends.”

Comfortable silence again.

Lia hugged her legs, her chin resting between her knees. “An ancient, interstellar empire huh? And helpful AIs.”

I laughed. “When you put it that way, it does sound farfetched. But that is what the Kurai believe to have happened. Before they converted to the secular Korahtism, of course.”

“Do you believe it?” Lia asked. “The story?”

I went silent and just stared at the stars above us. “It’s a worthwhile story, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I knew it was not, but she kept quiet anyway and stared at the stars with me, hopefully, in contemplation.


End file.
